Bourjois Air Mat Foundation…

I’ve done it… as unbelievable as it may seem, I’ve FINALLY popped my Bourjois foundation cherry gals!! You see the teeny tiny issue I have is when I find a foundation I love (and I mean adore here) I tend to buy ONLY that brand for the rest of my days – ever fearing that the formula will change or the company will dissolve over night leaving me grasping onto my final dregs. However lately I’ve been hopping about from foundation to foundation like a dismissive cosmetic tart.

Bit of a mini back story to this purchase… a number of weeks ago (when summer declared it had finally arrived) I was getting rather tedious of foundations sliding of my face at the mere sight of a single sun ray. Deciding it was high time to tackle the issue, I took to the aisles of Superdrug in search of my next purchase… something that suggested “hey you, I’m a summer-lovin little bottle of goodness that won’t chase your concealer half way down your chest” So when I spotted the bright and chic looking bottle of Bourjois Air Mat (coupled by a rather tempting deal for a pair of free sunglasses) it comes as no surprise I was loading my basket with beauty goodies that seemed to fill me with confidence for facing the sweltering summer sun. After a few weeks of wear here’s my findings…

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So What’s The Hype?!

According to Bourjois…

“Bourjois’ Air Mat foundation has been specially developed to give skin a smooth, matte finish that lasts for up to 24 hours. Its non drying, lightweight formula lets skin breathe throughout the day and provides high coverage for a flawless finish.

Enriched with mattifying micronized powders, it elimates shine with no mask effect for an undetectable result.

Starting at the centre of your face blend the formula outwards and upwards for a flawless finish whilst erasing any imperfections.”

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Application Results

As any thorough beauty blogger would, I’ve pretty much tried this with every application tool I would normally apply foundation with. Here’s a quick peek at how it fairs with half of my face blended with the Air Mat compared to my natural skin tone…

Stippling Brush: Tends to lean towards a dry and uneven appearance. The more I worked the brush the more disastrous the results appeared. Looked dry, skin felt very dehydrated and super difficult to blend = 2/10.

Beauty Sponge: For this I trialled it with both the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge & the original Beauty Blender. Personally I felt the RT sponge left a slightly better finish as it seemed to retain less of the product whereas I had to use a little more product with the Beauty Blender. Strange but true *sigh* Not the best coverage and looked rather patchy as the day wore on = 5/10.

Fingers: Low and behold my very own digits seemed to be the best for the job as the warmth generated when smoothing really helped to blend the product out around the edges of the jawline and across the face = 7/10.

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Formula

The consistency of the product is actually really lovely, it’s not too watery but at the same time it’s not like smearing peanut butter across your face (though I must admit I’m yet to try that so I could be wrong *ponders pensively*) Considering I picked up the shade ‘Ivory Rose’ it’s surprisingly yellow toned & should be valued as ‘warm ivory’ than what I assumed had slightly more pinkish undertones.

Initially the smell of the foundation seemed pleasing, slightly unusual and reminded me of something I couldn’t quite place… something that I’d smelt before that could be a tad offensive if whafted in large doses. After a week of slowly agonising over the aroma it became all too clear: seaweed. Yes, seaweed – more precisely the Lush Seaweed Fresh Faced Mask. Of course once my sniff sensors registered this I’m afraid it all went a tad downhill as I slowly turned myself against the pungency of the fragrance. Maybe my sense of smell has slightly malfunctioned, or maybe I’ve just got an over active nose canal – either way the strength of my stomach doesn’t agree with it and I’m afraid to say the pong of Air Mat has slowly turned me 50 shades of green.

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 Staying Power?

I’m afraid this is where my opinions begin to landslide a little lot. Okay, so it looked decent when freshly applied but over the two weeks (and regardless what primer I paired it with) the formula began to very quickly sit in the fine lines under my eyes. My cheek bones, chin & nose all had the appearance that I’d somehow managed to miss them out during application too. Considering that it claims to be a 24HR foundation I’m assuming it’s been tested on a plastic doll as anyone with pores with inevitably find it being soaked in and (at best) lasting 4 hours, let alone another 20.

Pros

At £9.99 and available from local drugstores, it’s pocket friendly and easy peasy to get your hands on.

The packaging is bright, cheery and has a hint of ‘I’m a summer staple’ about it. PLUS it’s plastic, which is great to travel with and easily trimmed in half should you need to scoop out those last remaining dregs.

It’s matte. Wait, in fact it’s VERY Matte! There’s no denying it’ll certainly eliminate shine without a hint of dewiness if that’s your thing.

Feels very velvet to touch as it leaves what feels like a very fine powdery finish over the skin.

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Cons

Most definitely not 24 HR – unless you’re completely poreless of course.

The smell. Oh the smell.

Colour choice – personally there aint much that I’ve seen available and considering the shade I picked was the lightest of the bunch, I actually thought it was pretty warm and oxidised on application. Not great for us palers! Darker skinned ladies, from what I’ve seen the choices are limited – very limited in fact 😦

Dry, itchy, flaky & patchy. My skin just didn’t like it one iota *sigh*

A nightmare to blend which can lead to it seeming very cakey around the hair line etc so smooth with caution!

Definitely doesn’t cover flaws as well as other full foundations.

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Final Verdict

Don’t get me wrong, once applied it looks rather pretty. If anything it actually gives the appearance that your complexion is very softly airbrushed. However, as the hours whittle away so does the staying power. Maybe it’s my skin, which happens to be combo and quite often a little unsettled with matte finishes. Unfortunately I won’t be reinvesting in this anytime soon, it’s just not for me *sob*

Have you tried the Bourjois Air Mat foundation? If so, what’s been your final verdict? Have you any recommendations for a full coverage drugstore foundation that’s tough enough to last the sunny days ahead? Whatever your thoughts I’d love to read them in the comments below so do stop by for a quick chatter 🙂

Cheerio Chums…

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